Deadlands Reloaded: The Weird West

Shan Fan

Shan Fan is near the about one quarter the distance from the northern most tip of The Great Maze. It can be reached both by land or sea, and it even has a small air strip set up by the Progress Conclave. By ship through the maze, one takes the North Channel (also known as the China Run) from Lost Angels. This route can take anywhere from 18 hours, the current record, to three days depending on the quality and experience of the boat and pilot. By land there are many trails and road leading to the city including the The Ever Triumphant Trail which runs along the cliffs of the Maze. The city is also serviced by the Denver-Pacific as well as the Iron Dragon from Sacramento.

Shan Fan is like any Chinatown a cowpoke would find in any other city that’s got one except nearly the whole city is. The whole place is a mixture of eastern and western aesthetics. Most building are topped with the classic bilateral gabled roofs common among Chinese architecture of brightly color tiles with heavily decorated roof peaks of eastern mythology. The packed streets of flowing silk banners, beautiful calligraphy signs, and colorful paper lanterns hang on roof over hangs, support beams, and criss-cross the cobblestone and packed earth streets. So most Americans don’t forget they haven’t been wisped away to the Forbidden City magically, the classic wood plank sidewalks and swinging saloon doors can be found here aplenty. Most nights and mornings the city is filled with the fog that the former San Fransisco was also famous for. Some old timers even say the Maze and somehow made it, “even thicker than pea soup.”

Shan Fan is a big place, and the streets here kind of fan out from the harbor of Shan Fan Bay. The Great Quake left a nice, sheltered harbor for shipping from the ruins of the San Fransisco Bay. Most of the roughly east-west streets are called avenues. While most of the north-south ones are called streets. Many of the names seem on the odd side, because they were named in Chinese and translated for the benefit of us Anglos. The city divides itself up into a number of neighborhoods based on what kind of business is done there. These are often called “towns.” People in Shan Fan generally live where they work, unless they got plenty of dough. If you work in the red light district or the abattoirs, life in Shan Fan is profoundly unpleasant.

Shan Fan was built atop the ruins of San Fransisco and it the former’s city’s destruction from the Great Quake of 1868. Most of the Frisco population was killed in earth’s largest recorded natural disaster. Most of the survivors of European descent decided to cut their loses happy to leave California with their lives for safer living conditions. The Chinese immigrants having no place to go decided to rebuild the city. The would bring a bit of China to North America where they would be free to chose their own destinies. It was the Shan Fan Triad led by Big Ears Tam than wrestled control of the the reconstruction and he and his Triad mad what the city is today.

Places of Interest

Angelfish Island an island that has all but been completely mined out years agoBig Ears Tam’s Estate the private island of the most powerful man in Shan FanHeavenly Park A large area of greenery in center of Shan FanIsle of Ghost’s Tears a sacred island that the city has promised to leave pristinePrawn Valley if it has anything to do with fishing or harvesting from the sea it can found hereRed Lantern District this is the place where most cowpokes go when in the cityThe Skids the dangerous slums of the city where destitute live Splintertown the carpentry and manufacture district of the cityStinktown the meat capital of the northern maze with a number of slaughter houses and stockyardsSweat Island The current island being mined after Angel Fish dried upTaeltown the financial district of Shan FanThe Waterfront the shipping district of the city

Rumors, Gossip, and Stories

The normally skeptical Rockies have hired spiritualist Edwina Pope. Rumor is, their headquarters is haunted by a poltergeist.

A fellow by the name of Wang Mo, owner of Wang Mo Antiques, is always looking for old junk. In particular, he is trying to locate a jade statue of a lion and would pay top dollar for it.

Someone has been poisoning the meat in Stinktown slaughterhouses. Big Ears Tam is not happy about Long Hair Tony’s investigations turning up nothing but dead deputies.

The New Hounds Gang, an Anglo organization, is biting the heels of the Shan Fan Triad hoping to loosen the grip of Hsieh Chia Jên over the city.

There is a young woman with a epitaph camera who seems to have a morbid fascination with death as she is trying to take a picture of someone at the moment of death.

There is an underground gambling den in the skid where destitute players bet on body parts to win money. The Shan Fan Triad denies any involvement or even its existence.

There is a house in Taeltown that is evil. There are rumors that anyone who steps onto the property is cursed to die horribly. An eastern banker bought the place for a song, but can’t get anyone to rent it, not for very long anyways. He would probaly pay good money to any troubleshooter that could fix his problem.

There is talk that someone is gunning to assassinate U.S. Army Major Farrel Brick on one of his many trips to Shan Fan from Fort Lincoln. He always wears his dress uniform making him an easy target.

Adventures

MARSHAL’S ONLY: These are not for players to read unless they have accomplished the adventure already (and have the Marshal’s go ahead) and want to get a look behind the scenes. For published adventures, most of what is here are notes concerning the adventure such as locations, major NPCs, possible trouble spots, and optional things that change the adventure. For original adventures, it is the actual adventure.